smooth sailing

idiomatic phrase

: easy progress without impediment or difficulty
After the mix-up was rectified, it was smooth sailing again.Mike Brown
He just kept talking and talking his nonstop sunny talk about what a great summer we were going to have and that he had tons of plans and that we would get caught up as father and son and soon all our rough past would be behind us and we would have nothing but smooth sailing for our future.Jack Ganto

Examples of smooth sailing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The journey to Cuba was smooth sailing until the dinghy that Newton and his wife Gwen Fontaine needed to get to shore capsized. Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 17 May 2024 The time to strike is now when the weathervane points towards smooth sailing. Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2024 Tiffani Thiessen Poses with Her Lookalike Daughter Harper, 13, at the Hunger Games Premiere While her summer camp journey has been smooth sailing, son Holt, 8½, has had some reservations about trying out sleepaway camp. Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 14 May 2024 But with Swift and Zayn’s help, the couple (and the viewers) experience a stretch of smooth sailing in the mostly turbulent film. Shannon Carlin, TIME, 3 May 2024 In the context of the presidential campaign, any hindrance to his smooth sailing back into the Oval Office is an abomination. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024 While Yawn and her fiancée are ready to part ways with the Denver property, their other real estate ventures haven’t always been smooth sailing. Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024 The route is colored to show the current traffic: blue for smooth sailing, yellow for small delays, and red for bumper-to-bumper traffic. PCMAG, 21 Mar. 2024 However, things weren’t always smooth sailing between the pair. Katie Mannion, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smooth sailing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of smooth sailing was in 1824

Dictionary Entries Near smooth sailing

Cite this Entry

“Smooth sailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smooth%20sailing. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!